House Oversight May Get Clinton Fundraising Probe After Burton Brouhaha
By Jackie Koszczuk, CQ Staff Writer
Major portions of the House investigation into alleged campaign fundraising
abuses by President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign could be taken over by
the House Oversight Committee now that the probe has stalemated in the House
Government Reform and Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Dan Burton,
R-Ind.
The unusual decision by Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., to propose letting
another committee handle the high-profile investigation came after an especially
rancorous session of Burton's panel on April 23. Democrats, enraged at Burton's
description of Clinton as a "scumbag," refused to go along with the chairman's
request for immunity for four witnesses.
Burton said later that he "did not want" to transfer authority to Oversight
Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., but that "was the only way" to get
around the Democrats' obstructions. He added that he and Thomas will work
together and that his own committee would retain the right to issue a final
report this fall.
But Thomas said in a statement that no power transfer has been agreed to yet
and that he is "reviewing his options." Thomas wants assurances that his panel
would be able to act independently and would not have to take orders from
Burton, a key GOP aide said.
Although Republicans have a majority on the Government Reform committee, they
lack the two-thirds required to grant immunity. The immunity proposal failed
April 23 when the panel voted 21-19 along party lines.
To avoid future hang-ups, Gingrich wants to let Thomas' Oversight panel
handle the immunity issue. Oversight is a Speaker-controlled committee split 6-3
in favor of Republicans, which should make two-thirds GOP votes automatic. The
panel also would depose immunized witnesses and hold hearings.
The shift would solve another problem for GOP leaders by easing growing
Republican unhappiness over Burton and his investigation, according to a top GOP
leadership aide. House Republicans have complained that Burton is spending a lot
of money but adding little to what a similar Senate probe uncovered. (CQ Weekly,
p. 724)
Burton vs. Clinton
The latest round of feuding on the panel was sparked by Burton's harsh
description of the president and by his decision to release transcripts of
telephone conversations former Associate Attorney General Webster L. Hubbell had
while serving a federal prison term for tax evasion and mail fraud.
Regarding Clinton, Burton said in an interview with the Indianapolis
Star/News published April 16, "If I could prove 10 percent of what I believe
happened, he'd be gone. The guy's a scumbag. That's why I'm after him."
Rep. Henry A. Waxman of California, ranking Democrat on the Burton panel,
called the remark "vile and repugnant" and said it showed that Burton cannot be
objective about Clinton. Waxman said he may ask the full House to either censure
Burton or remove him as chairman.
Burton acknowledged that he could have "used more diplomatic language," but
he said his remarks were prompted by frustration that 90 potential witnesses to
Democratic fundraising efforts have refused to cooperate with the committee's
investigation. His feelings would not interfere with his official actions as
chairman, he said.
As part of its investigation, Burton's committee has been looking into
whether the Lippo Group, an Indonesian firm with ties to the president and his
wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and to controversial Democratic fundraiser John
Huang, made payments to Hubbell to keep him from cooperating with Independent
Counsel Kenneth W. Starr's probe into the Clintons' involvement in the
Whitewater land deal.
Committee investigators say they found that Hubbell received $700,000
from Clinton friends and supporters at a time he was being pressured by Starr to
cooperate in that probe. That amount is about $200,000 more than previous
revelations of payments to Hubbell, which Burton and other Clinton critics have
characterized as hush money.
Burton's committee also subpoenaed the Justice Department for Hubbell's
jailhouse phone conversations, which are routinely taped in federal prison.
Under the Privacy Act, the department cannot disclose information on the tapes
to anyone except members of Congress, who are themselves not bound by the
no-release restriction.
Waxman said most of the 295 audio tapes are personal conversations between
Hubbell, his wife, children and friends. Some are with his attorneys. He said
Burton's plan to make them public is pointless and "cruel," designed to punish
Hubbell for invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination when
committee investigators sought to interview him.
Burton said he plans to release the transcripts as soon as the week of April
27 because "the American people have the right to know the facts."
© 1998 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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